Signaling system for material handling apparatus



NOV. 24, 1931. 5, MCMULLAN 1,833,654

SIGNALING SYSTEM FOR MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS Filed March 31, 1925)64 Mg /5 20;a4 /7 2/ 225 @25 I 654950 E I E /0 86 90 van/wJamae/McMM/afi 9 Patented Nov. 24, 1931 STATES PATENT emu:

, particularly to a signalingwapparatus adapt;

, means ofdelivery-tubes indiw'dua-l tothe; coilers, each tubeterminating in vpivotally mounted, portion, The operation ofa commonpneumatic Valve; ,causes the stripping,

L sh vrunn arQMnLLAN, or RIVERSID V PANI rnconronn rnn, or

11:, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR o WESTERN LECTRIC coM aims-01m, n. Y., A'oon-ronarron on NEW YORK -SIG1$TALINGE SYSTEM Ion MATERIAL HANDLINGAPi'ARATUs Application file'di'Ma rch 31, 1925. Serial N 19,699.

This invention relates to signaling systems for.materlalhandlingapparatus, and more ed ifor usev in connection with the coilingmechanism of a rollin'gmillr l The object of the present invention is toprovide in a material handling" apparatus an improved signaling devicefor automati eally and positivelyindicating when the apparatus conditionto properly handle material. 1 we ()ne formxoi' a the invention isembodied in a rod coiling apparatus wherein the rod, after leaving thefinishingpass of the rolling mill, is coiled andtransferred to aconveyor leadingjtoga. quenching 1 bath. The rod is guided to one of aplurality of coilers, by

of, the coilfrom the: coiling means and simultaneously causes theassociated guidetube to be moved topermitthe transfer of the, coil totheconveyor.v Simultaneously therewith and controlled by" the same valvea'sw tch operates wlnchcontrols an electric circultlncluding asignalinglamp. When the tubeis in its inoperativeposition the switch is openandthe circult 1s. maintalned open atthat point; untilflthe tube returnsto its operative position; The circuit in; cludes second switch whichautomatically closes the circuit atianother. point whenthe eoi-ier has;attained, predetermined speed,

at whichwtime it is-ready to: receive ralrrod which condition isindicated by lighted:

- Other features 05 the, invention wa ts the following detailed comeapparent from I description, referencelbeing 7 had to the accompanyingdrawings wherein 1 Fig.1-is a plan viewsof a pluralityof coile"themajorpart of .the mechanism being shown, schematically I thereofiand ing apparatus. employed in a-irod rolling millembodymg the featuresof the HLVBHUOIIZ to more clearly illusig. 3 shows a diagram of theelectric circuit and alr control mechanism. s

Referring to F gs. ,1 andQ, of the drawings in detail, 10 indicates,schematically, a fin? ishing stand ofany suitable type in a rolling millfor producing rod,-and comprises a pin-- rality of finishing passes orrolls 11, 12,13 and 14 which lead to a plurality'of coilersindicatedgenerally. at 15, 16 17 and 18, respectively which coilers are adaptedto receive and coil the finished rod. The rod is guided to the coilers1t, 17 an d 18 by means of pivotally mounted tubes 19, 20', 21 and22,,respectively which are connected with the passages 11, 12, 13 andllby guide pipes 23, '24, 25. and 26, respectively. Since the coilers 15,16, 17 and 18 aresimilarin construction and in;operation,,it is thoughtthat a description of the construction and operation of coiler 15-wi1lsutfice. Rotatably journaled in a bearing 28 is a sleeve 29 to which issecured a bevel gear 31 meshing with a. pinion 32 which is, driven fromany. suitable source of power such as" an electric motor 33. Rigidlysecured nearthe top of the sleeve 29 is a disk 34 and' projectingupwardly fromv the disk area plurality of pins and36 arrangedinconcentric circles andwhich are adapted, when the'coiler is inoperation, to coil rod guided into the space between the circles by thetube 19. The pins project through apertures 38 formed in a strippingplate 40 which is secured to a rod 41 slidably journaledain cylinder 43is connected to any suitable source (not-shown) of air-or other gaseousmedium under pressure whereby the rod 41 andstripping plateglO may bemoved upwardly to strip the coiled rod from the pins and raise it to thelevel of a. floor 45. s a

I Depending. from a carriage 46 are. posts47 which are adapted to pushthe coiled rodv acrossathe floor pm a conveyor 48 which is driven by anysuitable means (not shown) and is adapted to ljdeposit the coiled rod ina quencl'iing' bath on the like (not shown), The carriage 46is'reciprocably mo'untedpn. a pairbf" threaded rods 49 and"50 WlllCllare rotatably journaled. in suitable bearings (not shown) and are drivenby any suitable The tubular member 19 is pivoted at 55 in'abracket 56and is adapted to be oscill lated ina verticallplane by a piston rod 57(Fig. 3) which is connected to a piston 58 in a pneumatic cylinder 60.The cylinder 60 is connected .to the supply (not shown)" of' into andout of its operative position with respect to the coiler 15, thuspermitting the tube 19 to-be withdrawn from the path of the carriage 46when the coiled. rodis to be transferred to the Conveyor 48.

ring mechanism is fully disclosedand described in Patent No. 1,598,835to Ralph-C.

VValtefr, dated September 7, 1926. Itis there fore thought that afurther detailed description thereof is unnecessaryherein;

' Associated with the coilers 15, 16,17 and 18 are signal lamps 61, 62'.63and 64 respectively, which lamps serve toindicate to the operatorwhich coilersare ready to rece vea rod. In order for acoiler to bereadyto-receive a rod it must berevolving at or above a predetermined speedand the pivotal;

guide member which guides the rod between the circles ofcoiler pins,must bein its low-, ered position. Each of they signal 7 connected in anelectric circuit 65 '(Fig. 3)

" which circuit is controlled by switches 66 and 67, the switch'66 beingoperated simultaneously with the movement of the pivotal guide member19, LS will hereinafter be described, and. theswitch 67 beingcontrolledby the speed ofthe coiler motor. Any wellknown mechanism maybeprovidedfor automatically closing the switch 67 to close the circuitwhen the coiler motor has attained a predetermined speed. In the present embodiment of the invention the switch;

67'is controlled by the reciprocable contact support bar 71 which closesand opens the switch 67 simultaneously with the closing and openingofthe final contacts 72 of the motor controlcircuit as indicated inFig.The bar 71 may be actuated inthe usual manner by a slow operating relay95 con nected in the' motor circuit of the ooiler, the:

relay being timed so as to operate to close motor contacts 72' andswitch 67 upon the coiler motor attaining a predetermined speed.

The switch 66 comprises' a contact mem ber68;(Fig. 3) which is'adaptedtoengage a pair of contacts 69 and -70-to close thecircuit' 65when the guide tube 119 is in its oper- 'ative position with "respect-tothecoiler 15 The contact member 168 is secured nearthe top of a .piston.rod 73 which is connected to a air under pressure whereby the air may beadmitted into the cylinder in such manner that. the tube '19 maybemovedl lamps is respectively.

piston 74 disposed in a pneumatic'cylinder 75. The cylinder 75 isconnected to the supply (not shown) of air under; pressure. in suchmanner that the air may be admitted to move the piston 74 and pistonrod-73 upwardly, thereby causing the contact member 68 to-be disengagedfrom the'contacts 69 and 70. A' compression spring (Fig. 3) encirclingthe piston rod 7 3 andinterposed between the piston 7 4 and the top ofthe cylinder 75 serves to return the Contact member 68. to the positionwherein it engages the contacts 69' andc70uafter'the guide tube 19 hasreturned to its operative position.

Referring to Fig. 3, the means for controlling theadmission of air underpressure into I the cylinders 43,,60 and 75 comprises a manup allyoperable two-way valve 82. which is con- The aboveld'escribed coilingand transfernected by a pipe 83 to the source (not shown) of air underpressure. The valve 82 is conof the coiler 15 and its associatedsignaling mechanism is alone described. The .coiler is rotated bystarting the driving motor 33, the

valve 82 being manipulated to admit air under. pressure through the pipe83, valve 82,

and pipes 85 and 87 into the cylinders43 and 60, respectively, above thepistons 42 and 58, When the valve '82 is'in this positiomthe cylinders43, 60 and 75 communicate with the exhaust pipe through the pipes 86, 88and'89, respectively, which are connected to thecyli'nders below the.pistons 42, 58 and 74. It is, therefore, apparent that the compressedairmoves the pistons 42 and 58; downwardly and, at thesame time, the

compression -'spring-8O forces the'piston :7 4 downwardly causing thecontact member 68 to engage the contacts69 and 70 thus closing oneopening in the circuit; Upon the. coiler attaining a predeterminedspeed, the switch .67 automatically closes the circuit 65 therebylighting the lamp 61-and indicating to the operator positioned at thefinishing pass that thecoiler 15. is ready to receive a rod. Inresponseto this signal the operator inserts the rod into the passassociated with such coiler.

" Likewise the'lamps 62, 63 .and-64'when lighted indi'cate ito theoperator'that the coilers "16, 17 and 18, respectively, are each readyto receive a rod'. i V 7 After afrodhas been coiled by the coiler 15,the motor33 is brought to a stop in any usual manner and thevalve 82 ismanipulated sothata r under pressure w1ll'enter thecylinders 43,. 60 and75 through the pipes 86, 88 and 89, respectively, while the cylinders 43and 60 communicate with the exhaust pipe 90 through the pipes 85 and 87,respectively. The stopping of the motor 33 auto-.

. the stripping plate 40, the guide tube 19 and the contact member 68,respectively.

The upward movement of the piston74 causes the contact member 68 tobecome disengaged from the contacts 69 and 70, thereby opening thecircuit 65 at a second point.

The stripping plate 40, in moving upwardly, strips the coiled rod fromthe pins and 36 and raises it to the level of the floor 45.

Simultaneously therewith the upward movement of the piston 58 causes theguide tube 19 to move upwardly and out of the path of the carriage 46which moves forwardly to push the coiled rod onto the conveyor 48. The

guide tube 19 is maintained in this position until after the carriage 46has returned to its normal position after which the motor 33 isagainstarted and the valve 82 is again ma-' nipulated to return the tube19 to its operative position with respect to the coiler 15.

The same operation is repeated for each of the coilers 15, 16, 17 and 18while their associated lamps 61, 62, 63 and 64, respectively,

' indicate to the operator when they are ready to receiverods.

Although the invention is herein illustrated and described in connectionwith a coiling apparatus employing four coilers positioned in a certainarrangement, it should be understood that theimproved signaling systemis applicable to any number of coilers arranged in any manner withoutdeparting from the spiritof the inventionwhich should be limited only bythe scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat is claimed is: t

4 1. In an apparatus for handling strand 1 I materiaha plurality ofrotatable coilers each adapted uponattaining a predetermined rotatlvespeed to receive and G011 a moving b strand, delivery pipes individualto the coilers, movable to a plurality of positions with respect theretoand operative in one of said positions for guiding strands to theassociated coilers, a strand distributing member common to all of thecoilers and having a plurality of strand distributing passages, guidetubes individually connecting the delivery pipes with the distributingpassages, and means individual to thecoilers, distinguishable fromthedistributing member, and effective when the associated coiler hasattained the predetermined speed and the associated delivery pipe is inoperative position with respect thereto for indicating when therespective coilers are ready to receive a strand.

ing rods to the associated coilers, a finishing stand common to all ofthe coilers and having a plurality of passes individually connected withthe delivery pipes, and means individual to the coilers, distinguishablefrom the finishing stand and effective upon the respective coilersattaining the prede- V termined speed and when the associated deliverypipes are in operative position with respect thereto for indicating thatthe respective coilers are ready to receive a rod.

' 3. In a rod mill, a plurality of individually driven rotatable coilerseach adapted upon attaining a predetermined speed to receive and coil adrawn rod, delivery pipes individual to the coilers, movable to aplurality of positions with respect thereto and operative in one of saidpositions for guiding rods to the associated coilers, a finishing standremoved from and common to all of the coilers and having a plurality ofpasses, guide tubes individually connecting said passes with thedelivery pipes, and an electrical signal circuit associated with each ofthe coilers, each signal circuit including a circuit closer responsiveto the speed of the coiler, a circuit closer actuated by the deliverypipe, and a lamp visible to an operator at the finishing stand andeffective when the associated coiler has attained the predeterminedspeed and the associated delivery pipe is in

